Prayer For the Church – the Body of Christ

Pope Francis Proclaims the Church is the Living Body of Christ and Calls for Christian Unity

In order to live a Body and its limbs must be united!

Pope Francis continued his teaching series on the Church in his Wednesday message to the faithful who gathered in St Peters Square. His topic was the Church as the Body of Christ.

Too often, even Catholics do not understand that to belong to Jesus the Head means to belong to His Body, the Church. That belonging is meant to be a lived, relational, transforming reality.

The teaching of this pope is beautiful and profoundly important.

Pope moves through the crowd to give his general audience

Highlights

By Deacon Keith Fournier
Catholic Online (//www.catholic.org)
6/21/2013 (5 years ago)

Published in Europe

Keywords: Church, ecclesia, communio, communion, Body of Christ, Catechesis, General Audience, Pope Francis, ecumenism, unity, Vatican, Deacon Keith Fournier

P>VATICAN CITY (Catholic Online) – Pope Francis continued his teaching series on the Church in his Wednesday message to the faithful who gathered in St Peters Square.

His topic was the Church as the Body of Christ. Too often, even Catholics do not understand that to belong to Jesus the Head means to belong to His Body, the Church.

That belonging is meant to be a lived, relational, transforming reality.

The process of redemption began when we pass through the Sacramental Waters of the font of Holy Baptism. It continues as we cooperate with the Grace given to us in our life within the Church. It will only be fully completed when the Lord Returns and we are raised in Resurrected Bodies and live in a new heaven and a new earth!

This understanding of the Church as a participation in the Body of Christ – and an entry into the Trinitarian Communion – runs throughout the writings of the early Church Fathers. Let me share just two snippets as an example. First some words from Origen:

“Christ has flooded the universe with divine and sanctifying waves. For the thirsty he sends a spring of living water from the wound which the spear opened in His side.

From the wound in Christ's side has come forth the Church, and He has made her His bride”
Then, from Bishop Ireneaeus of Lyons, a disciple of Polycarp who was himself a disciple of the Apostle John: “We need to take refuge with the Church, to drink milk at her breast, to be fed with the scriptures of the Lord. For the Church has been planted in the world as a paradise”

The early Christians did not see the Church as something onerous or optional, they saw it as normative for every Christian and life giving.  So should we. Our Catholic faith is about a continuing, lived, dynamic, relational encounter with the Lord and all those who are now joined to Him in His Mystical Body, the Church, of which we are members.

The Church comes from above. It is a participation in the Divine Nature, instituted by the Lord and not designed or redesigned by us. The Apostle Peter wrote of this truth in his second letter to the dispersed early Christians:

“His divine power has bestowed on us everything that makes for life and devotion, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and power. Through these, he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature.” (2 Peter 1:4)

The Church is called a “mystery” (the Greek word mysterion). It cannot be fully grasped or explained by words. St. Paul writes regularly of this mystery. His writings concerning the Church in his letters to the Corinthians, the Romans, the Ephesians and the Philippians all demonstrate the integral place of the Church in his understanding of the Christian faith.

His encounter with the Risen Lord on the way to Damascus reveals the ground of his ecclesiology.

(Acts 9: 1-22): We read, “Now as he journeyed he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed about him.

The voice Paul (then Saul) heard from heaven asked him why he persecuted “Me”. Saul had never met Jesus in the flesh. He had however persecuted the Church. Jesus is identified with the Church and her members. He is really, truly present in His Body on the earth. In the words of St. Augustine, the “whole Christ” cannot be separated, “the body as a unity cannot be separated from the head.”

The Church is an encounter with that whole Christ, the Risen Lord. He is ther Head and the Church is the Body. It is an entrance through Him into the Trinitarian communion.

That encounter and the relationship it supports is spoken of throughout the Christian Tradition as being 'nuptial', this is wedding language; the Christian vocation is to be espoused to Jesus Christ as a bride to a bridegroom for all eternity.

This message from Pope Francis on the Church needs to read, re-read, prayed over – and lived. Below is the Vatican Radio translation.

***** Pope Francis:

Dear brothers and sisters, good day!

Today I will focus upon another expression with which the Second Vatican Council indicates the nature of the Church: that of the body, the Council says that the Church is the Body of Christ (cf. Lumen Gentium, 7).

I would to start from a text of the Acts of the Apostles which we know well: the conversion of Saul, who will then be called Paul, one of the greatest evangelists (cf. Acts 9:4-5).

Saul was a persecutor of Christians, but while he is on the road leading to the city of Damascus, suddenly a light envelops him, he falls to the ground and hears a voice saying “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? '.

This experience of St. Paul tells us how deep the union between we Christians and Christ Himself.

When Jesus ascended into heaven he did not leave us orphans, but with the gift of the Holy Spirit, our union with Him has become even more intense.

The Second Vatican Council says that Jesus ” communicating His Spirit, Christ made His brothers, called together from all nations, mystically the components of His own Body” (Dogmatic Constitution. Lumen Gentium, 7).

The image of the body helps us to understand this deep Church-Christ bond, which St. Paul has developed especially in the First Letter to the Corinthians (cf. chap. 12).

First, the body brings our attention to a living reality. The Church is not an charitable, cultural or political association, but a living body, that walks and acts in history.

And this body has a head, Jesus, who guides, feeds and supports it.

This is a point I want to emphasize: if the head is separated from the rest of the body, the whole person cannot survive. So it is in the Church, we must remain bound ever more deeply to Jesus.

But not only that: just as the body needs the lifeblood to keep it alive, so we must allow Jesus to work in us, that His Word guide us, that His presence in the Eucharist nourish us, animate us, that His love gives strength to our love of neighbor. And this always!

And here I come to a second aspect of the Church as the Body of Christ.

St Paul says that as members of the human body, although different and many, we form one body, as we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body (cf. 1 Cor 12:12-13).

In the Church, therefore, there is a variety, a diversity of tasks and functions; there is no dull uniformity, but the richness of the gifts that the Holy Spirit distributes.

But there is communion and unity: we are all in a relation to each other and we all come together to form one living body, deeply connected to Christ.

Let us remember this well: being part of the Church means being united to Christ and receiving from Him the divine life that makes us live as Christians; it means remaining united to the Pope and the Bishops who are instruments of unity and communion, and also means overcoming personal interests and divisions, in order to understand each other better, to harmonize the variety and richness of each member; in a word, to love God and the people who are next to us more, in the family, in the parish, in the associations.

In order to live a Body and its limbs must be united! Unity is beyond all conflict. Always! Conflicts, when they don't end well, separate us from each other, they separate us from God.

Conflict can help us to grow but can also divide us.

We must not travel the path of division, of conflict among us, no we must all be united – with our differences – but united because that is the path of Jesus!

Unity is beyond all conflict. Unity is a grace that we must ask of the Lord so he may save us from the temptations of the division, from internal struggles and selfishness, from gossip. How much damage gossip does! How much damage! Never gossip about others, never! How much damage divisions among Christians, being partisan, narrow interests, causes to the Church!

But we Catholics must pray with each other and other Christians. Pray that the Lord gift us unity! Unity among ourselves! How will we ever have unity among Christians if we are not capable of having it among us Catholics,…in the family, how many families fight and split up? Seek unity, unity builds the Church and comes from Jesus Christ. He sends us the Holy Spirit to build unity!

Dear brothers and sisters, let us ask God to help us to be members of the Body of the Church always deeply united to Christ, help us not to hurt the Body of the Church with our conflicts, our divisions, selfishness: help us to be living members bound to each other by a single power, that of love, which the Holy Spirit pours into our hearts (cf. Rom 5:5).

Below the English language summary

Dear Brothers and Sisters: In our catechesis on the Creed, today we consider the Church as the Body of Christ.

Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, received in Baptism, we are mystically united to the Lord as members of one body, of which he is the head.

The image of the mystical body makes us realize the importance of strengthening our union with Christ through daily prayer, the study of God's word and participation in the sacraments.

Saint Paul tells the Corinthians that the Body of Christ, while one, is made up of a variety of members. Within the communion of the Church, and in union with the Pope and Bishops, each of us has a part to play, a gift to share, a service to offer, for building up the Body of Christ in love.

Let us ask the Lord to help us reject every form of divisiveness and conflict in our families, parishes and local Churches.

—

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Bible. Church — Body of Christ

Our bodies are the members of Christ

15Know ye not thatyour bodies are the members of Christ?shall I then take the members of Christ, and makethemthe members of an harlot?God forbid.Еф 5, 30.
16What?know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body?for two, saith he, shall be one flesh.Gen.

2, 24.Мф 19, 5.Мк 10, 7.Еф 5, 31.
17But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit.
18Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body;but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body.

19What?know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghostwhich isin you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?1 Пет 2, 5.1 Кор 3, 16.2 Кор 6, 16.

20For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.Деян 20, 28.1 Пет 1, 19.Гал 3, 13.

1Co 6:15-20

11But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.
12For as the body is one, and hath many members, and all the members of that one body, being many, are one body: so alsoisChrist.Рим 12, 4.
13Forby one Spirit are we all baptized into one body,whetherwe beJews or Gentiles, whetherwe bebond or free;and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.Мк 1, 8.Гал 3, 28.

1Co 12:11-13

27Nowye are the body of Christ,andmembers in particular.Еф 5, 23.
28And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues.Рим 12, 6.Еф 4, 11.

1Co 12:27-28

15I speak as to wise men;judge ye what I say.1 Кор 1, 5.
16The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ?The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ?Мф 26, 26.Деян 2, 42, 46.
17For we beingmany are one bread, and one body:for we are all partakers of that one bread.Ин 6, 33.

1Co 10:15-17

4For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:1 Кор 12, 12.
5Sowe,beingmany, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another.

Rom 12:4-5

15And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which alsoye are called in one body;and be ye thankful.Еф 4, 3.Флп 4, 7. 13But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far offare made nigh by the blood of Christ.Деян 2, 39.
14For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partitionbetween us;Ис 9, 6.Ин 16, 33.
15Having abolished in his flesh the enmity,eventhe law of commandmentscontainedin ordinances;for to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace;2 Кор 5, 17.
16And that he might reconcile both unto Godin one bodyby the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
17And came and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to them that were nigh.Ис 57, 19.Зах 9, 10.
18For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.Ин 14, 6.Рим 5, 2.Евр 10, 19.
19Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
20And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone;Ис 28, 16.1 Пет 2, 4.
21In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord:Кол 2, 19.
22In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit2 Кор 6, 16. 1For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles,Деян 21, 33.
2If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward:Деян 9, 15.Гал 1, 16.
3How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery;(as I wrote afore in few words,Еф 1, 9.
4Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
5Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;1 Пет 1, 12.
6That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, andof the same body,and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:Рим 15, 12.
7Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.Деян 9, 15. 1I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,Флп 1, 27.Кол 1, 10.1 Фес 2, 12.
2With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
3Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
4There isone body, and one Spirit,even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;Рим 12, 5.1 Кор 12, 12. 18Let no man beguile you of your reward in a voluntary humility and worshipping of angels, intruding into those things which he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, Никто да не обольщает вас самовольным смиренномудрием и служением Ангелов, вторгаясь в то, чего не видел, безрассудно надмеваясь плотским своим умом2 Кор 11, 14.
19And not holding the Head, from whichall the bodyby joints and bands having nourishment ministered, and knit together,increaseth with the increase of God.Еф 4, 15.

Growth of the Body of Christ

The Body of Christ fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.Eph 4:16

11And he gave some, apostles;and some, prophets;and some, evangelists;and some, pastors and teachers;1 Кор 12, 28.
12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
13Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:1 Кор 14, 20.
14That wehenceforthbe no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
15But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head,evenChrist:Рим 12, 9.Еф 1, 22.Кол 1, 18.
16From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

Eph 4:11-16

Bibliography

• Greek and Hebrew Bible
• Blue Letter Bible
• Vatican:New American Bible

Источник: //1260.org/Mary/Bible/Bible_Church_Body_of_Christ_en.htm